Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Paul wrote:
KenW wrote:
On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 21:04:41 -0700, bilsch
wrote:

I currently have no Windows system on any PC. I have Ubuntu. I want
to purchase and download a Win10 bootable install iso for use on
another PC (an old Dell Inspiron N4110 laptop). I can make a
bootable USB stick using linux command line something like:

dd if=windowsinstall.iso of=/dev/sdb

I know how to do that.

What i need to know is where to purchase and download the iso file
that will boot the laptop into the Windows 10 installation routine. I
assume I will get a long registration code when I purchase the file
that I will need to enter during installation. I prefer to get the
file from Microsoft if possible. TIA. Bill S.
The Media Creation Tool can get the iso to burn or make a bootable ?
usb stick
The problem the OP is presenting to us is:

1) A Linux user "wants to switch to Windows"
2) The Linux user seems to have an option to purchase a license key.
3) The user wants to obtain media from MS to go with the key.
4) The target computer lacks an optical drive.
5) Now, how do we make a USB key using only a
Linux box, when MS will only give a Linux user "windows10.iso"
and MediaCreationTool won't run on a Linux box.

One of the limitations of USB key makers, is
some of them need low level access (/dev).
And that can prevent a WINE approach from working.
If you had a Windows tool that worked in WINE, that
might have been an option, but a typical tool like
the "Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe" won't work. It wants
to do stuff like format the USB stick and so on.
Whereas WINE uses ~/.wine/drive_c as an example
of the path to its storage area. WINE should not be
granting low level access to hardware. This is one of the
limitations as you move from platform to platform. High level
applications work, but fiddling with disk drivers or USB ports
is seldom an option.

*******

I did think of a way. I have a test setup that was already
pretty close to doing this. But, I could not get it to work.

1) Linux.
2) Install VirtualBox (package manager).

snip whatever

None of this is needed!!! OP has Ubuntu and wants to make a Windows
bootable installer on a thumbdrive then none of all these suggestions
are needed. All the OP has to do is download the ISO from M$. Obtain a
thumbdrive large enough to accommodate the image. Stick it into a USB
slot. Start application Startup Disk Creator. Yes it there. 18.04 and up
'Show Applications' or older version click the BFB, Big Friggin Button
to open Dash. Type 'Startup Disk Creator' and start app. Point to ISO,
point to thumbdrive, CREATE. That is it!


This is the part I didn't bother posting.

*******

This is the setup of a Win10 disc. (I'm using the Cygwin disktype, also in Linux)
This shows the Win10 ISO is MSDOS/UEFI capable,
but there's no evidence of "flat USB" support.
This config is "too ordinary".

L:\disktype Win10_1809_English_x64.iso

--- Win10_1809_English_x64.iso
Regular file, size 3.585 GiB (3849388032 bytes)
UDF file system
Sector size 2048 bytes
Volume name "ESD-ISO"
UDF version 1.02
ISO9660 file system
Volume name "ESD_ISO"
Preparer "IMAPI2 (1.0) ISO9660 FORMATTER COPYRIGHT (C) 2004-2007 MICROSOFT"
Data size 3.585 GiB (3848847360 bytes, 1879320 blocks of 2 KiB)
El Torito boot record, catalog at 1442
Bootable non-emulated image, starts at 1443, preloads 4 KiB
Platform 0x00 (x86), System Type 0x00 (Empty)
Bootable non-emulated image, starts at 1445, preloads 1.406 MiB (1474560 bytes)
Platform 0xEF (EFI), System Type 0x00 (Empty)
Windows / MS-DOS boot loader
FAT12 file system (hints score 5 of 5)
Volume size 1.390 MiB (1457664 bytes, 2847 clusters of 512 bytes)
Volume name "EFISECTOR"

This is the setup of a Ubuntu disc (which can be dd'ed onto a USB flash).
The current usb-creator-gtk can do the "dd" for you. Notice the extra
"stuff" in here. My guess is, Partition 2 makes a difference. When
placed on the USB stick with "dd", multiple partitions will be
evident (if you examine with gnome-disks or gparted, as Windows
won't allow the multiple partitions to be viewable as such).

L:\disktype ubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso

--- ubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso
Regular file, size 1.819 GiB (1953349632 bytes)
DOS/MBR partition map
Partition 2: 2.281 MiB (2392064 bytes, 4672 sectors from 3737268)
Type 0xEF (EFI System (FAT))
FAT12 file system (hints score 5 of 5)
Volume size 2.260 MiB (2369536 bytes, 1157 clusters of 2 KiB)
GPT partition map, 208 entries
Disk size 1.819 GiB (1953349632 bytes, 3815136 sectors)
Disk GUID FFA91B1A-BF02-A940-9263-AC1983BAD47C
Partition 1: 1.819 GiB (1953320960 bytes, 3815080 sectors from 0)
Type Basic Data (GUID A2A0D0EB-E5B9-3344-87C0-68B6B72699C7)
Partition Name "ISOHybrid"
Partition GUID 3CA65E8A-BF02-A640-9261-6C1983BADAEA
Partition 2: 2.281 MiB (2392064 bytes, 4672 sectors from 3737268)
Type Basic Data (GUID A2A0D0EB-E5B9-3344-87C0-68B6B72699C7)
Partition Name "ISOHybrid1"
Partition GUID 60D40696-BF02-D440-9260-3C1983BADE7B
FAT12 file system (hints score 5 of 5)
Volume size 2.260 MiB (2369536 bytes, 1157 clusters of 2 KiB)
Partition 3: unused
ISO9660 file system
Volume name "Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS amd64"
Preparer "XORRISO-1.2.4 2012.07.20.130001, LIBISOBURN-1.2.4, LIBISOFS-1.2.4, LIBBURN-1.2.4"
Data size 1.819 GiB (1953349632 bytes, 953784 blocks of 2 KiB)
El Torito boot record, catalog at 191
Bootable non-emulated image, starts at 932694, preloads 2 KiB
Platform 0x00 (x86), System Type 0x00 (Empty)
ISOLINUX boot loader
Bootable non-emulated image, starts at 934317, preloads 2.281 MiB (2392064 bytes)
Platform 0xEF (EFI), System Type 0x00 (Empty)
FAT12 file system (hints score 5 of 5)
Volume size 2.260 MiB (2369536 bytes, 1157 clusters of 2 KiB)
Joliet extension, volume name "Ubuntu 18.04.1 L"

The "extra stuff" on the Ubuntu image, is what gives it USB support.

If you want to spend your time "dd"ing that Windows 10 image to
a USB stick, be my guest.

I'll give a hint about Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe .

It extracts a copy of "bootsect.exe" from the ISO it's
been asked to copy to the USB stick, and... it uses it.
And that's the evidence that a "transform" is required,
not just a "copy" of the ISO. It's doing *something* to
prepare the image for usage on USB. I don't have source for it,
so I don't know what else it is doing.

Things like winusb or woeusb would be wrapping the content
with their own solution (SYSLINUX?).

I used to spend time randomly copying stuff onto USB sticks,
trying to boot, having failure, try the next thing. i don't
do that now. I'll let someone else re-try all these experiments.
I at least expect to see a "success pattern" in the media,
before I'll waste the time now.

Paul